Tuesday, June 14, 2022

McCartney in Baltimore continues to show how peace and love (and rock) can still win

It’s always a major life event when I have Paul McCartney tickets. That happened for the third time in my life last night (Indianapolis 1989 and DC 2013 were the others) at Camden Yards in Baltimore. And while our seats were up in the top deck, they were still pretty good and the sound was amazingly great.

It’s very tough to pick out highlights because the whole show was so immaculate, but here are some reflections:

  • One of the reasons Paul includes so many Wings songs in setlists is that they are so arena and stadium ready. Tunes like Live and Let Die (with its massive fireworks show), Letting Go, Junior's Farm, Let Me Roll It, Let 'Em In, Jet, and Band on the Run are McCartney concert staples. Probably the most glaring omission was Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.
  • I've Just Seen a Face and Lady Madonna were fun mid-Beatles choices. You Won't See Me and Here, There, and Everywhere would have been great additions.
  • In Spite of All the Danger was a cool choice from the pre-Beatles Quarrymen.
  • Getting Better, Blackbird, and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! were huge crowd-pleasers from the mid/late Beatles era.
  • Playing Gorge's Something was a truly beautiful highlight. How great would the addition of John's Nowhere Man and In My Life be in future shows?
  • Speaking of John, having him duet on the big screen for I've Got a Feeling was genius and pulled off without a hitch.
  • Probably the biggest moments were the songs that I tend not to listen to that much but which are clearly traditionals: Get Back, Hey Jude, Let It Be, and Birthday.
  • Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da works really well in the live setting, and Helter Skelter and She Came in Through the Bathroon Window (like just about the entire Beatles catelog) seem uncuttable.
  • Finally, I can't imagine there will ever be a better closer than Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End.

Setlist

  1. (The Beatles song)
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  2. (Wings song)
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  3. (Wings song)
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  4. (The Beatles song)
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  5. Play Video
  6. (Wings song) (with “Foxy Lady” outro jam)
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  7. (The Beatles song)
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  8. (Wings song)
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  9. (dedicated to wife Nancy, who… more )
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  10. (Wings song)
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  11. Play Video
  12. (The Beatles song)
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  13. Play Video
  14. (The Beatles song)
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  15. Play Video
  16. (The Beatles song)
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  17. Play Video
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  19. (The Beatles song)
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  20. Play Video
  21. (Wings song)
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  22. (The Beatles song)
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  23. (The Beatles song)
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  24. (The Beatles song)
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  25. (The Beatles song)
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  26. (The Beatles song)
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  27. (The Beatles song)
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  28. (Wings song)
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  29. (The Beatles song)
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  30. (Wings song)
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  31. (The Beatles song)
  32. Encore:
  33. (The Beatles song) (virtual duet" w/video &… more )
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  34. (The Beatles song)
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  35. (The Beatles song)
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  36. (The Beatles song)
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  37. (The Beatles song)
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  38. (The Beatles song)

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